After the factions assumed in the morning that they had no witnesses at all, ex-BVT director Peter Gridling appeared in the followingnoon. The focus of his questioning was, on the one hand, Egisto Ott, and on the other hand, the reorganization of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (BVT). A final survey is scheduled for reserve day (May 23).
Even before the start of the last committee day, the ÖVP announced that it wanted to bring the managing director of the advertising agency “signs” (formerly: Ideas Forge), Thomas Sila, before the police. He was actually supposed to be interviewed on Tuesday, but canceled due to illness. However, ÖVP parliamentary group leader Andreas Hanger did not entirely trust his certificate: Sila was carrying out his work as managing director normally, he told media representatives on the sidelines of the committee meeting. A motion for Silas to be brought before the police for reserve day on May 23rd was ultimately passed by a majority at the end of the meeting on Wednesday evening.
Criticism of “blue flood of rejections”
For May 23rd, Hanger would like to invite the “coward of the nation,” as he said – Herbert Kickl. Hanger emphasized once once more that his cancellation due to vacation was a “democratic political scandal.” In order to invite Kickl once more, the parliamentary groups would need to be unanimous. Not surprisingly, the Freedom Party spoke out once morest it.
In addition to Hanger, NEOS MP Yannick Shetty also criticized the “blue flood of rejections” before the survey started and briefly took stock of the committee set up by the ÖVP in a statement. The “important instrument of the U-Committee” should not be misused for party political tactics; there have been numerous mudslingings, especially between the ÖVP and FPÖ. In addition to Shetty, the Green parliamentary group leader Meri Disoski once once more reiterated the calls for live broadcasts from U-committees and a Russia-U-Committee as soon as possible following the National Council election.
Gridling sees the Ott case as “mission accomplished”
When questioning Gridling, trial judge Christa Edwards began with the topic of the suspension of ex-constitutional agent Egisto Ott, who was suspected of espionage. This was overturned by the Federal Administrative Court in June 2018, and the suspected Russian spy was not suspended once more until 2021. Gridling He then explained that he had filed a report on suspicion of intelligence activity and had initiated a disciplinary report and had thus fulfilled his task. The investigation was then conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office and not the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (BVT).
Edwards confronted Gridling then also with an accusation that FPÖ leader Kickl made during his questioning in the U-Committee a few weeks ago – namely the accusation that Gridling I did not inform Kickl regarding the “Ott problem case” when he became Interior Minister. “If Kickl complains regarding that, that’s his right,” said Gridling. But there was a responsible department.
“The rule of law also applies to Mr. Ott”
The first “hints” regarding Ott had already been given in 2015, said NEOS faction leader Shetty when he questioned Griedling. But these “would not have been nearly enough to do anything. (…) The rule of law also applies to employees like Mr. Ott,” replied the former BVT director. He emphasized that he only wanted to say more in a non-public meeting Gridling. He was then given the opportunity to do this: the last of three rounds of questions took place without the media.
Quite happy with Gridlings The pink mandatary’s answer was not: “The BVT – and I don’t want this to sound disrespectful – is not the MA48, it is the state security agency.” Shetty also brought up the former German State Secretary and later Wirecard lobbyist Klaus-Dieter Fritsche once more. This was security-certified as an external consultant and therefore had access to classified information Gridling. “If you pay a consultant, then he should also advise you,” argued Gridling these competencies. He himself was not involved in the order and assumes that it was agreed upon with the then Secretary General in the Ministry of the Interior, Peter Goldgruber. There were no temporal overlaps between Fritsche and Ott. On whether the work of officials who dealt with right-wing extremism was made more difficult under Interior Minister Kickl Gridling no perceptions.
Data queries and secret projects
The MPs devoted their questions, among other things, to Ott’s data queries. Just a few minutes following the survey began, Gerstl warned people to stick to the subject of the investigation. Data queries from Goldgruber were also a topic. As a senior official, he might have rightly requested information. However, inquiries were also rejected, such as which investigators had worked in the area of fraternities Gridling. It was clear to the BVT that a blue-led Interior Ministry would mean difficult times. The ÖVP MP Corinna Scharzenberger asked regarding two “secret projects”. Gridling was not informed. The client was Goldgruber, Gridling The ministry said he was not authorized to receive this information.
After Heinz-Christian Strache’s former bodyguard canceled for Wednesday, and the parliamentary directorate of Gridling, the trendy restaurateur Martin Ho and the former general secretary of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society, Florian Stermann, had not received any feedback, the factions initially assumed that no surveys would be possible on Wednesday. Before the survey, the Green Disoski was happy that at least one was now possible: “We see the last or one of the last people surveyed, we don’t know for sure.”
This article was last updated on May 8, 2024 at 9:09 p.m.
